Editing Greek fire (section)

===General characteristics===
{{Byzantine Military}}
As Constantine Porphyrogennetos' warnings show, the ingredients and the processes of manufacture and deployment of Greek fire were carefully guarded military secrets. So strict was the secrecy that the composition of Greek fire was lost forever and remains a source of speculation.{{sfn|Haldon|2006|p=290}} The mystery of the formula has long dominated the research into Greek fire. Despite this almost exclusive focus, Greek fire is best understood as a complete weapon system of many components, all of which were needed to operate together to render it effective. This comprised not only the formula of its composition, but also the specialized [[dromon]] ships that carried it into battle, the device used to prepare the substance by heating and pressurizing it, the 
{{lang|grc-Latn|siphōn}} projecting it, and the special training of the {{lang|grc-Latn|siphōnarioi}} who used it.{{sfn|Roland|1992|pp=660, 663}} Knowledge of the whole system was highly [[Compartmentalization (information security)|compartmentalised]], with operators and technicians aware of the secrets of only one component, ensuring that no enemy could gain knowledge of it in its entirety.{{sfn|Roland|1992|pp=663–664}} This accounts for the fact that when the [[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgarians]] took [[Nesebar|Mesembria]] and [[Debeltos]] in 814, they captured 36 {{lang|grc-Latn|siphōn}}s and even quantities of the substance itself,{{sfn|Theophanes|Turtledove|1982|p=178}} but were unable to make any use of them.{{sfn|Roland|1992|p=663}}{{sfn|Pryor|Jeffreys|2006|p=609}}

The information available on Greek fire is indirect, based on references in the [[Byzantine military manuals]] and secondary historical sources such as [[Anna Komnene]] and Western European chroniclers, which are often inaccurate. In her ''[[Alexiad]]'', Anna Komnene provides a description of an incendiary weapon, which was used by the Byzantine garrison of [[Dyrrhachium]] in 1108 against the [[Normans]]. It is often regarded as an at least partial "recipe" for Greek fire:{{sfn|Partington|1999|pp=19, 29}}{{sfn|Ellis Davidson|1973|p=64}}<ref>[[Sir James Sibbald David Scott, 3rd Baronet|Scott, James Sibbald David]] (1868). [https://archive.org/details/britisharmyitsor02scotuoft ''The British army: its origin, progress, and equipment'']. p. 190.</ref>

{{blockquote|This fire is made by the following arts: From the pine and certain such evergreen trees, inflammable resin is collected. This is rubbed with sulfur and put into tubes of reed, and is blown by men using it with violent and continuous breath. Then in this manner it meets the fire on the tip and catches light and falls like a fiery whirlwind on the faces of the enemies.}}

At the same time, the reports by Western chroniclers of the famed {{lang|la|ignis graecus}} are largely unreliable, since they apply the name to all incendiary substances.{{sfn|Haldon|2006|p=290}}

In attempting to reconstruct the Greek fire system, the evidence from the contemporary literary references provides the following characteristics:
* It burned on water; according to some interpretations it was ignited by water. Numerous writers testify that it could be extinguished only by a few substances, such as sand, strong vinegar, or old urine, some presumably by a sort of chemical reaction.{{sfn|Roland|1992|pp=657–658}}{{sfn|Cheronis|1937|pp=362–363}}{{sfn|Pryor|Jeffreys|2006|p=617}}
* It was a liquid substance – not some sort of projectile – as verified both by descriptions and the name "liquid fire".{{sfn|Roland|1992|pp=657–658}}{{sfn|Cheronis|1937|pp=362–363}}
* At sea it was usually ejected from a {{lang|grc-Latn|siphōn}},{{sfn|Roland|1992|pp=657–658}}{{sfn|Cheronis|1937|pp=362–363}} but earthenware pots or grenades filled with it – or similar substances – were also used.{{sfn|Partington|1999|p=14}}
* The discharge of Greek fire was accompanied by "thunder" and "much smoke".{{sfn|Roland|1992|pp=657–658}}{{sfn|Cheronis|1937|pp=362–363}}<ref>Leo VI, ''[[Tactica of Emperor Leo VI the Wise|Tactica]]'', XIX.59, transl. in {{harvnb|Pryor|Jeffreys|2006|p=507}}</ref>